Is a type of reference
work or compendium holding a comprehensive summary of information from either
all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge.

Encyclopedias
are divided into articles or entires which are usually accessed alphabetically
by article name.

Encyclopedia entries
are longer and more detailed than those in most dictionaries.

Generally speaking,
unlike dictionary entries which focus on linguistic information about
words, encyclopedia articles focus on factual information concerning
the subject for
which the article is named.

This website is a compilation of the histories of the offline
freight terminals, industrial concerns with railroad operations and pier
stations that were operated by railroads and that were located throughout
Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, the Bronx and Manhattan.

Included in each
chapter you will find the histories of that location and data (where known)
for the locomotives and equipment that operated for the companies and facilities
listed
on this website. To date, almost all of the steam locomotives that operated
for these concerns, were of sidetank or saddletank in some configuration
or another. The electric "juice jacks" and internal combustion locomotives
were as eclectic and varied as one can find: center cab, offset cab, box
cab, steeple cab, and open cab; gas-mechanical, oil-mechanical and
diesel-electric. These chapters also include, where known and where applicable;
the marine equipment (tugboats, carfloats, lighters, etc) and the respective
specifications for those vessels for the companies that operated them.

For those of you who are
just "finding" this page for the first time, this particular website was
borne out of my primary research topic: the Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal.
As I found it difficult if not impossible to discuss the BEDT and not refer
to the histories and rosters of the neighboring Rail - Marine / Offline Contract
Terminals, Industrial Railroads and some of the businesses associated
with them; this page was created to cover the histories of those companies
and their locomotives.

In searching through
the records of various locomotive builders for data concerning the locomotives
owned by the rail - marine companies on this website, in turn led me to
"discover" small industrial concerns in the New York Metropolitan Area that
operated locomotives as well. So these companies in turn were researched
and listed on this website as well.

While the content
of this website was originally concerned only with those railroads operating
in Brooklyn and Queens, it gradually expanded over time to include two very
small but
old terminal railroads in Staten Island, that operated some very unique
locomotives. And then the website expanded to include the offline terminal
operations in the Bronx. The final expansion of the website came about while
I was researching railroad operated pier stations and offline terminals located
in Manhattan, so those pages were created as well. It has for intents and
purposes evolved into an encyclopedia.

It should also be
noted that this website and the information contained on those webpages
is constantly evolving, being updated and in some cases, corrected.
Revisions are listed by individual page in the "update list" located
at the very top of this page.

It must be noted
that I cannot take full credit for all the efforts on this website, as what
you see before you is due to the collaborative efforts of many people who
have contributed
to this website and they should be recognized as well. These people
and their contributions are listed in alphabetical order in the "special
thanks" chapter at the bottom of this page, but I am especially indebted
to and grateful for the continuous contributions and assistance from many
people, of which many have become good friends with, most notably: Joseph
Roborecky, Fred Breimann, (both of whom are retired Brooklyn Offline Terminal
locomotive engineers) as well as Thomas Flagg, Benjamin W. Schaefer, Jay
Held, Ed Bommer and John McCluskey. All fine historians in their own right.
Last, but certainly not least is co-author and friend Paul F. Strubeck.

Photographs come
from a variety of notable "old time" collections; Everett DeGoyler, F. Rodney
Dirkes, Harold Fagerberg, Gerald Landau, Bradford Stiles, Frank Zahn
and from
the digital archives of the Brooklyn Public, New York Public and New York
State Libraries. Images also come from "modern" collections such as
Gene Collora, Tim Darnell, Mike DeLuca, Matt Herson and Dave Keller,
among many others and from either photographs they themselves took or acquired
over the years.

Of course, all
photographs pertaining to the locations covered are welcome! If you
have images you would like to have displayed, please feel free to contact
me at the email
link below.

As stated above,
this website was a result of ongoing research of the Brooklyn Eastern District
Terminal. Research for locations on this site, in turn led to the creation
of companion websites. It is strongly recommended that you also read the
first listed website, as it is a primer for understanding how transfer bridges
worked, and of which were an integral part of the Rail-Marine Terminal covered
by this website:

When one actually stops and compiles a
list of all the railroads that once operated in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten
Island, the Bronx or Manhattan, that list actually becomes quite impressive,
and in fact will reflect more operating entities than some states in the
U.S. and most countries in the world.

Normally, when railroads of Brooklyn are
mentioned, one tends to either think of the four Rail-Marine contract terminals,
those being the: Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal, Bush Terminal, New York
Dock and the Jay Street Terminal.

Or, one may think of the many steam powered
(and later electric streetcar) passenger railroads that once operated and
that were eventually absorbed into the Transit System. If one thought of
Staten Island, the Staten Island Railway (another predominant passenger railroad
once operated by the Baltimore & Ohio RR) is forefront in the majority
of railfans recollections.

While Queens was home to the LIRR's Long
Island City Freight Yards & Float Bridge, this facility wasn't "technically"
off line, being it was connected to the Hell Gate Bridge after 1917 via Sunnyside
Junction, but BEDT's Pidgeon Street Yard was indisputably offline. As far
as I can tell, this was the only offline terminal located in
Queens.

The Bronx and Manhattan also had several
offline terminals as well, but these were all operated by trunk line / Class
1 railroads (B&O, LV, Erie & PRR). There was also the New York Central
freight routes running through city streets, but I consider this operation
to be "online" (and therefore not covered by this website) as it was in fact
connected to mainline trackage via bridges in the Bronx.

Yet despite all the knowledge of these
operations, there were in fact other offline freight railroads located in
Brooklyn, that have hardly been mentioned in contemporary accounts, if at
all; as well as the hardly known industrial railroads that operated in the
the five boroughs of New York City.

As such, all of the terminal railroads
covered on my websites, are known as "offline terminals". The accepted definition
of an "offline terminal" is such that a railroad terminal with no physical
rail connection to the mainland rail network of the United States. The only
method of freight car transfer to and from the mainland rail network to these
terminals was by carfloat.

Until December 2008, this website did
not cover the following "offline" terminals operated by the Class 1
railroads:

While the Harlem Transfer has been covered
on my website for some time, this was largely due to the fact it was originally
a joint venture (shared facility) until 1906, when at such time it was purchased
outright by the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. But even after
this occurred, it had been operated as wholly owned subsidiary of its
own accord and identity. The design of the Harlem Transfer Company, which
it shares in most degrees with two other Bronx facilities; is unique in the
fact that is has a circular freight house and concentric circular access
trackage.

Save for that one facility though, I had
intentionally omitted all the other Class 1 offline terminals from my website.
This decision was made for the most part, because I felt that with the
plethora of information already published both in bound form and on the internet,
and with so many leisurely and professional historians working on the histories
of the Long Island Railroad and the Baltimore & Ohio / Staten Island
Railway, as well as the other Class 1 railroads, I would be duplicating efforts
already undertaken. I eventually realized this was an error on my
part.

In fact, there did not appear to
be an overwhelming amount of published material on quite
a few of these Class 1 terminals located outside of Manhattan.
In my opinion, detailed histories of Pennsylvania Railroad's North 4 Street
Terminal, and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad's 25th
Street and Wallabout Terminals (all of which were located in Brooklyn);
were practically non-existent and desperately needed.

I also found a severe lack of information
on the web of the Lehigh Valley and Erie Railroad facilities in the
Bronx. The Central Railroad of New Jersey's Bronx Terminal has received a
bit more publicity (being the subject of Tim Warris' model building website);
but an actual dedicated history on that Central Railroad of New Jersey Bronx
Terminal was not to be found either. In the process of researching the
Pennsylvania Railroads' North 4th Street Freight Station, it was discovered
that a very early and short lived offline terminal had been located at North
1st Street! This facility was constructed by the Baltimore & Ohio
RR in 1898 and subsequently sold to New York, New Haven & Hartford RR
until it's demise around 1918; but until now, this location eluded discovery
or mention in contemporary accounts or in research by present day
historians.

I also did not intend to create a page
on the shared Wallabout Union Freight Station operation (Pennsylvania, New
York Central, Lehigh Valley and Baltimore & Ohio Railroads) or the Wallabout
Station of the Erie Railroad. Both of these facilities are kind of odd balls,
as they were pier stations only; with no trackage or float bridge.
Carfloats would simply be moored to the pier, and freight
and commodities removed directly from the freight cars to the pier sheds.
But their contribution to railroading history in Brooklyn was without fanfare
until now.

Therefore, with the dedicated assistance
of Joseph Roborecky, Tom Flagg, Paul Strubeck, Jay Held, John Teichmoeller
and many other fine contributors, these Class 1 Offline Terminals located
in Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan were researched, images located and now pages
have been created and added to this website detailing the histories of these
locations. Also added was the New York City's Float Bridge located at their
207th Street Yard in north Manhattan.

All told, there are now forty separate
locations on which the histories and operations of Industrial & Terminal
Railroads in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island & the Bronx & Manhattan
are covered by this website, plus the "photo albums" of the Manhattan
Pier Stations & Inland Freight Stations, the page of photos of street
running freight trains of New York Central railroad in Manhattan and current
modern day freight operations in Brooklyn & Staten Island, the Glossary
page, the page on the Development of the Carfloat Transfer Bridge in New
York Harbor, the Comprehensive List of Transfer Bridges in New York Harbor
page and the List of Diesel Powered Railroad Tugboats of the East Coast!

.

Trunk Line / Class 1 - Online Freight Terminals Not Covered

For the time being, the historical origins
of the following locations in New York will remain to be omitted from this
website for the following two reasons:

a. These rail marine / carfloating
terminals were technically connected to the mainland United States rail network;
and / or
b. They have been extensively covered in printed and
internet publications.

1via the Hell Gate
Bridge 2via Sunnyside Yard and
the East River Tunnels or over the Hell Gate
Bridge 3via the Arthur Kill vertical
lift bridge to New Jersey
4
via several bridges
crossing the Harlem River

.

Again, even though I had no intention
to cover online terminals in the New York Metropolitan Area, I came across
several interesting photographs of New York Central Freight Service (street
running albeit "pre-High Line") in New York City. As I feel the photos are
historically important, so I have included those images on their own page
strictly as a photo album.
You may view
those images here.

If you should desire information on
those first three locations above, I highly recommend these three
resources:

1. Steve Lynch's &
Dave Keller's
"LIRR
website", and the books:
2. "The New York Connecting Railroad" by
Robert C. Sturm and William G. Thom, as well as
3. "New York Harbor Railroads in Color, Volumes
1 and 2", by Thomas Flagg.

However, it should be noted, that the
histories of the transfer bridges at these locations are covered in depth
within the companion website:

As for the definition of facility, some
readers might find themselves asking what is the difference between an
"industrial railroad" and an "offline terminal railroad". There are now actually
six distinct categories of freight railroads discussed within this website:.

It is the year 1870. Ulysses S. Grant
is in the White House after being elected president following a successful
victory in the Civil War. Walrus mustaches are popular among men, and top
hats are in. The Department of Justice is created as a government agency.
The Army Weather Bureau is created, and this would become the National Weather
Service. The current Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is placed in service, the
transcontinental railroad celebrates its 1 year
anniversary. There are no electric lights and
either the mail or the telegraph is the means of communicating long
distance, (even though a gentleman inventor by the name of Alexander
Graham Bell is tinkering with acoustic telegraphy, which in a a few years
yields a device that will eventually become known as the telephone).

In New York City; the Statue of Liberty
does not exist and just north, Ellis Island, known then as Castle
Garden, is beginning to bustle with freshly arrived immigrants looking
to become Americans. North Manhattan is wild forests. Staten Island is similar
with a smattering of farms. Brooklyn and Queens are highly developed the
closer you get to New York Harbor, but the eastern edges of Brooklyn &
Queens are what would be considered "rural", and farmland dominated the view.
Long distance travel, primarily via horse drawn wagon; is beginning to give
way to the railroads. But, horse drawn carriages and small steam locomotive
drawn street cars were the way to travel anywhere out of walking distance
within the city.

Long Island (which is comprised of Kings [Brooklyn], Queens,
Nassau & Suffolk Counties, and Staten Island [Richmond County] were truly
isolated from the mainland US. There are no bridges or tunnels spanning the
East or Hudson Rivers. The Brooklyn Bridge would not be opened until 1883
and the Manhattan, Williamsburg, Queensboro or George Washington Bridges
would not be built until many years after that. There are no Holland, Lincoln
or Queens Midtown Tunnels.

The only
way to transport anything to these locations was by water: either
by ship, boat, lighter or barge. If you found it necessary to go from Brooklyn
or Queens to Manhattan, or from Staten Island or New Jersey to Manhattan,
you would have to take a ferry. The waterborne vessels of this period are
powered either by wind and sail or primitive steam power and coal is starting
to increase as the fuel of choice for furnaces and boilers, which are used
for heat or propulsion power.

The "second" industrial revolution is underway in earnest, and
the mass production of consumer goods is taking hold. To get the raw materials,
commodities and items from the mainland to Long Island, everything was shipped
by water from New Jersey to Manhattan and Long Island. Today, it is difficult
to envision this isolation with the myriad of bridges, highways, and tunnels
(and gridlock!) linking Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island with the mainland.

As a result of this waterborne traffic, many dockside terminals
and warehouses were built around the New York City proper for storage. The
large mainland trunk line (or known later on as Class 1) railroads had their
own equipment and properties; namely: tugboats, lighters, barges and ferries
to bring these commodities to and from various mainland railroad points
around the NY Harbor. To get the commodities to the New Jersey shoreline;
many railroads, their locomotives themselves powered by steam, have built
a vast network of tracks radiating towards the New York
area.

In the pre-float bridge days, freight
had to be manually transferred at the docks and wharves from newly arrived
trains to barges and lighters (a lighter is essentially a barge with a enclosed
structure on it, similar in design to a one room warehouse). Of the lighters
that carried products that need to be kept chilled, (i.e.: milk, meat, fruits
and vegetables), these lighters were insulated (usually with double walls
filled with sawdust) and were equipped with roof hatches for the loading
of ice to be carried on board.

This was a time consuming and back breaking method, of having
to unload a freight car on the dock, load it onto a lighter or barge, transport
the lighter cross-harbor out of New Jersey, then unload it. Then repeat the
process again for the trip back. It also required vast labor pools.

The
first intensive use of the dedicated carfloating of freight in the United
States seems to have occurred during the Civil War, when freight cars were
floated on makeshift barges along the Potomac River, to serve places where
existing rail lines could not reach for various reasons. As published
in "American Railroad Freight Car", by John H. White, Jr. (1993, Johns
Hopkins University Press) credits Brigadier General Herman Haupt for
first carfloating on a barge in 1862, during the Civil War. In the October
2000 issue of "Model Railroader" magazine, p. 82-85 there is an illustrated
article on the November 1862 construction, under the direction of Brigadier
General Herman Haupt, of a carfloat operation for the Union Army at Alexandria,
Virginia.

Haupt had been the Chief Engineer of the
Pennsylvania Railroad and was in the process of constructing the Hoosac Tunnel
when he was "conscripted" to run the U. S. Military Railroad. Two steamtug
drawn floats were constructed, each holding 8 cars transversely, and they
were served by triple-track aprons at the transfer landings, running from
Alexandria, Virginia, down the Potomac River 60 miles to Aquia Landing, about
10 miles northeast of Fredericksburg,
Maryland.

In addition,
George Abdill on page 48 of his book "Civil War Railroads: A Pictorial Story
of the War between the States, 1861-1865 "(1961, Indiana University Press)
calls it "pioneer car ferry" which it was not. Instead, it was the pioneer
carfloat in the United States.

General Haupt supervised the construction
of these transfer bridges at both terminals of this proposed water route.
General Haupt also designed, requisitioned materials and built the unique
railroad float barges. The carfloats consisted of two large-sized Schuylkill
type barges moored side by side, across both of which long timbers were placed
supporting eight tracks mounted transversely (from port to starboard instead
of the modern configuration of bow to stern).

At Alexandria, VA; the loaded freightcars
were placed singly aboard each of the eight tracks of the carfloat. The carfloat
was then towed sixty miles by steam tug to Aquia Landing, VA. Once at this
location, railroad crews unloaded the carfloats by pulling the cars.

While not this has not been confirmed,
it appears from maps and background detail that the three transfer bridges
were located in Alexandria, VA; and the eight track bulkhead was at Aquia
Landing, VA. We were able to locate three images of the operation in searching
the web. All three images are attributed to the National Archives, but were
located on a very nice website showcasingBernard
Kempinski's "The American Civil War in Miniature".

The three transfer bridges at Alexandria, VA (?).This appears to be a photo taken during
the construction.

The three transfer bridges from shore side. Note no
rails on the outside spans.
This appears to be a photo taken during the construction.

The carfloat at Aquia Landing (?) Note the tracks on the left.
The photographer is standing on one of the carfloats.

.

The wharfs and transfer bridges at Alexandria,
Virginia.

All four photos:
courtesy of the National Archives
via "American Civil War in Miniature", by B.
Kempinski.added 08 January 2012

.

Once the
freight cars were unloaded, they were then able to forward those freight
cars with their contents, without the need of "breaking bulk" (unloading
the freight from the car) along the rebuilt rail line of the Richmond,
Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad to Falmouth, across from Fredericksburg,
VA; on the north bank of the Rappahannock River.

According to Haupt this was:

"the first known attempt to transport cars by water
with their cargoes unbroken. The Schuylkill barges performed admirably and
thus was formed a new era in military railroad transportation. The length
of the barges were sufficient for 8 tracks carrying eight cars, and two such
floats would carry the sixteen cars which constituted a train."

All of this construction occurred over
a period of two weeks. Haupt was ready to support further military operations
by November 17th, 1862. As to how the cars were loaded onto the barges, the
technology was already in place for carferrying. So the Civil War usage of
carfloating maybe was more of an inspiration than an invention, inspiring
the New Jersey railroads about how to serve Manhattan without having to unload
everything out of the cars onto ferryboats or sail lighters on the Jersey
side.

The following link will take you to the
comprehensive history of the Development of the Carfloat Transfer Bridge
in New York Harbor.

This stand alone website includes
illustrations, engineering drawings, developmental history, information and
installation locations of past & present float and transfer bridges located
in New York Harbor. This website is sort of a "primer" if you will, to
understanding an integral part of the operations of the Rail-Marine Terminals
covered by this website. It is highly recommended that it be bookmarked and
read at your earliest convenience.

The following link will take you to a
comprehensive list of all known float bridges that existed from 1866 to present,
and that were located throughout New York Harbor and all adjoining
estuaries, basins and rivers including but not limited to: Hudson / North
River, Harlem River, East River, Upper New York Bay, Morris Canal, Wallabout
Basin, Gowanus Bay and the Arthur Kill.

This table was compiled by both Paul
Strubeck & myself; with the cooperation of Tom Flagg and Ben Schaefer
and others. This comprehensive table of all float bridges was born out of
the previous list located here of surviving float bridges in the New York
Harbor. Therefore it is only fitting that those surviving float bridges (whether
they be derelict, in service or not yet placed in service) are listed in
the comprehensive list and all data (where known) for all float bridges is
now listed.

Naturally, an undertaking of this scope
may have encountered unintentional omissions or erroneous data. Please direct
all questions, corrections, and suggestions tobedt14@aol.com.

The illustration below shows the appliances
found on almost all pontoon type float bridges used throughout New York
Harbor. Clicking on the illustration below will bring you to close up
off the appliances.Use the back arrow on your web browser to
return you here.

Please take note that the only
appliance not shown is the float bridge jack and a-frame. The reason for
this is that this component has not been used in day to day float bridge
operations for the last 20 years. Matter of fact, by referencing current
images of New York New Jersey Rail float bridge operations in Brooklyn, the
float bridge jack is not even mounted on the Bush Terminal float bridge in
service.

This appliance, if it were to have
been included in the diagram below, would have been located between the center
two toggles with the hydraulic piston overhanging from the edge of the float
bridge.

..This chapter, once the
reader has familiarized themselves with the components of a floatbridge;
is to give the reader an understanding of the procedures involved in mooring
and pinning a carfloat to a float bridge.

Pontoon Float Bridges

To moor carfloats at pontoon type float bridges;
the following procedure applies:

Tugboat approaches float bridge with carfloat,
and holds it in position for mooring;

Locomotive slowly proceeds onto right
track (facing water) of float bridge to weigh it down into
the water; and to match height of float bridge with deck of
carfloat;

The right toggle bars are slid into carfloat
receptacles and fastened with the toggle block;

Hawser lines would be tightened again via winch
wheels, and mooring lines from carfloat side cleats are attached to finger
pier (if applicable);

Locomotive reverses and backs off float bridge, switches to left track,
and proceeds forward on float bridge left track until left side toggle bars
are aligned with carfloat toggle receptacles;

The left toggles (pins) are slid into carfloat
receptacles and fastened with the chock;

Hawser lines are tightened again;

Hand jacks on the rails on the float bridge
would be turned to adjust the horizontal alignment of the rails on the float
bridge to match with rails on carfloat;

Locomotive now "drills" (unloads cars from carfloat). For the procedure
on this operation, please proceed to the next chapter below: "Carfloat Unloading Procedures"

Overhead Suspension Electrically Operated Transfer
Bridges

Carfloat mooring and pinning procedures
were a little different at electrically operated (separate apron & contained
apron) type float bridges; as those float bridges has electric winches for
drawing in the carfloat tight against the float bridge:

Tugboat brings carfloat in, and the float bridge
is raised or lowered by bridgeman in control cabin to bring it into correct
height alignment with
carfloat.

Hawser lines from power winch attached to front
mooring cleats on each side of carfloat.

Carfloat would be drawn in tight to float
bridge.

All toggles (pins) would be slid into carfloat
receptacles and chocked in.

The procedure for unloading a carfloat
can be viewed below. Please note, this procedure would apply in 99% of the
time. In certain unusual cases, the procedure was modified to accomodate
an extra heavy or wide load or special circumstance. While the diagram below
shows a pontoon float bridge, the procedure was the same at overhead suspended
transfer bridges.

Please
note:

Train crews involved in carfloat operations refer to the
tracks on a carfloat as north, south and middle. .
However due to differing orientations of the carfloat depending on location
(with a train crewman facing the carfloat from land) i.e.:
.
- At New Jersey locations, the bow of the carfloat points west, making
the left track the north track.
- At Manhattan or Brooklyn locations the bow of the carfloat points
east, making the left track the south track.
.
Therefore, for reasons of clarity; the diagram below refers to the carfloat
track orientation as starboard, center and port;
which would remain constant regardless of direction or
orientation.
.

The procedure illustrated & described below is
for normal freight car unloading / loading. The loading or unloading of
oversize or heavy loads (including multiple or road locomotives) would require
a modified procedure. .

Most switching
locomotives (both steam and diesel) could go onto the float bridge and/or
ride the carfloats as they did not
weigh "much" at 64 tons (steam) and up to 125 tons +/- (diesel)
respectively. When a locomotive was needed to ride a
carfloat,
the outer tracks would be loaded first, and the center track freight cars
loaded last, with the locomotive being the last to load..

Use of dedicated idler or reacher car is not shown
in below diagram as idler/reacher use was practiced by some
but not all railroads, and as any freight car could be used as an
idler/reacher.

Locomotive is inched forward onto float bridge to
bring it into same height as carfloat. Carfloat is secured to float bridge
using method and appliances outlined in above
chapter. Locomotive then couples up to cut of cars on starboard
side track.

Locomotive pulls cut of cars on starboard side track
half way off the carfloat and onto the float bridge lead; leaving part of
the cut of cars still on
float bridge and carfloat;

The locomotive uncouples from starboard side cut of
cars, and locomotive continues past float bridge lead turnout. Turnout
is thrown and aligned for port side track.

Locomotive heads forward onto port side carfloat track,
and couples up to cut of cars on port side track.

Locomotive reverses direction, and pulls entire cut
of cars off of port side track of carfloat and past float bridge lead
turnout; and float bridge lead turnout is thrown
and aligned for starboard side track.

Locomotive proceeds forward pushing port side cut of
cars and couples up to starboard side cut of cars.

Locomotive reverses direction and pulls combined port
and starboard side cuts of cars off carfloat to clear the turnout on float
bridge for carfloat center track, and points of center track turnout
are thrown and aligned for center track;

Locomotive pushes combined port and starboard of cars
onto carfloat, coupling up to string of cars on the center track
of carfloat.

The Kaufman Electrification Act of 1923,
ratified by the New York State Assembly, mandated that all railroads located
in the City of New York City be electrified by January 1, 1926. The
bill was sponsored by recently elected Assemblyman Victor R. Kaufman (R)
(hence it being called the Kaufman Act) and signed by Governor Alfred Emanuel
Smith (D) on June 2, 1923. News of this act was published in the June
5, 1923 issue of the New York Times. As a result of this act, all railroads
(freight as well as passenger railroads) operating in New York City would
face a significant change pertaining to their operations with the passing
of the State of New York's "Kaufman Act".

Actually, the State of New York had already
enacted legislation as early as 1903 prohibiting the operation of steam
locomotives on Manhattan Island south of the Harlem River after June 30,
1908. This legislation was in response to the January 8, 1902 wreck in the
New York Central & Hudson River Railroad's Park Avenue Tunnel, leading
to and from Grand Central Station. In this incident, smoke had obscured the
view of an engineer and he collided with another train. As a result, fifteen
passengers were killed and two score (forty) of people were injured.

Even though this legislation was enacted,
clearly exemptions had been made as there are several photographs within
this website showing several of the trunkline railroads operating steam
locomotives in Manhattan right up through the mid 1920's (i.e.: Erie
RR at West 28th Street, New York Central RR along Tenth and Eleventh
Avenues).
.

By way of this new 1923 legislation
however, the State of New York attempted to force the railroads to electrify
their lines. This new legislation required that:

"No railroad or part thereof operating within the limits of the city
of New York or within the limits of an adjoining city shall on or after January
1, 1926, use any motive power in its operation within
these cities except electricity, to be generated, transmitted and
used in said operation in a manner to be approved by the Public Service
Commission."

As some of these
railroads in the list at below right are covered in this website, I
felt it necessary to include a "universal" explanation of the Kaufman
Act that is applicable to all.

Following this legislation, the
Kaufman Act (as this legislation was to be known as) banned steam locomotives
from New York City because of severe pollution problems.

Brooklyn Daily Eagle - March 12, 1925

.
The response to this law was to electrify high-traffic rail
lines. However, electrification was uneconomical to apply to low traffic
areas, freight terminals and small industrial
concerns.
.

Naturally, this legislation
did not sit well with many of the railroads in the New York City area, and
several railroads (trunk line and independent alike) filed an appeal.

The Kaufman Act
would, without any doubt; incur serious financial hardships on many of the
independent contract terminals operating in New York City.

One would only
need to calculate the total cost of replacing all eleven of Brooklyn
Eastern District Terminal's steam locomotives (those in use in 1925 and all
at the same time) with electric locomotives plus having
to string trolley wire or catenary to power those electric locomotives. Quite
simply, here is where "sticker shock" sets in.

The Long Island Rail Road estimated it was going to
cost between 25 and 40 million dollars for them to comply with
the Kaufman Law. This figure translates to 306 to 490 million in 2009
dollars. Almost half a billion dollars!

But the true loser however,
is really the small one or two locomotive terminal like Degnon, which would
most likely just "fold up" rather than attempting to electrify.

Taking into consideration
that research into gas / diesel locomotive technology had yet to be perfected,
which is why the Kaufman Act specified "electric". Other than steam
there was no real alternative other than electric.

Brooklyn Daily Eagle - December 31, 1925

.

Enter the Oil (Diesel) - Electric
Locomotive

In response to the Kaufman Act, several
railroads operating in the New York City area approached Ingersoll-Rand to
build a prototype diesel-powered switching locomotive. Actually, both General
Electric and Ingersoll-Rand had been experimenting separately with internal
combustion powered locomotives for some time. But the looming compliance
date of the Kaufman Act really spurred on advances with this form of locomotive.

This is not to say Baldwin Locomotive
Works was ignoring this situation either. They too developed a diesel electric
locomotive, however their design was more conducive of road service. Therefore,
the Ingersoll-Rand was the logical choice for the various offline contract
terminals in New York City.

Ironically, the Jay Street Connecting
Railroad, an offline rail-marine terminal in Brooklyn; had already hosted
a diesel-electric locomotive prototype built by General Electric in 1918.
But unfortunately this design was not successful due in most part to electrical
control issues.

This prototype GE-IR model (X3-1) is known by it's construction
number: #8835; was fitted with an inline six cylinder (10" x 12" cylinders)
diesel engine constructed by Ingersoll-Rand utilizing the Price-Rathbun design
and solid injectors. This engine in turn powering an electrical
generator designed by General Electric. This in turn supplied electricity
to traction motors with voltage and current being regulated using controls
designed a few year prior by Hermann Lemp of General Electric. The carbody
was a left over, laying around at General Electric's Erie,
PA facility.

Sam Berliner, has authored an extremely knowledgeable (and enjoyable)
website containing an in-depth history on the development of the oil-electric
locomotive, including the resulting commercial models sold. This website
contains images, rosters, and specifications thereof. I
strongly recommendthis website be visited at:
ALCO / GE / IR Boxcabs.
Further info may also be ascertained from the December 1970 issue of Trains
magazine.

Sam also had this to add and it should
be noted:

"By the way, CNJ #1000 (and the other early
diesel electrics) were NOT called "diesel-electric" (not then, anyway); they
were referred to as "oil-electric".
The reason for this being Rudolph Diesel was a German and anti-German sentiment
following World War I was still running very high in the early Twenties;
so Ingersoll-Rand called their compression ignition engines "oil
engines".

. #8835
would be "unveiled" on February 28, 1924
to the
representatives of the railroads showing interest in a diesel locomotive:
Baltimore & Ohio, Pennsylvania, Boston & Maine, New York Central,
Reading & Lehigh Valley. While the men were impressed,
they remained unconvinced of the design which had not seen day to day service.
So, beginning in June 1924, and for the next thirteen months, the unit went
through rigorous (and to some extent, abusive) testing on ten different railroads
and three industries (to which the locomotive had been leased on a trial
basis). #8835 would come to spend quite a bit of time operating
on the West Side of Manhattan along Tenth and Eleventh Avenues for the
New York Central Railroad:

According to
Diesel Spotters Guide, by Jerry Pinkepank, Kalmbach Publishing; the locomotive
was broken in at the Ingersoll-Rand plant at Phillipsburg, NJ. The breakdown
of hours of service per railroad are as follows. Details of the service performed
are from Sam Berliner's website on
ALCO / GE / IR
Boxcabs.

railroad conducting
test

hours of
service

dates of service

remarks

New York Central

833

6/9/1924
8/23/1924.

Placed in yard switching
service (New York City West Side Yards) on July 19th for a daily recording
of
performance data. In one test, this unit was operated 24 hours per
day (almost continuously),
handling 3 shifts daily from 7/24 to 8/7. Inspection of the locomotive could
only occur during crew changes.
On 8/14 a "Tonnage Test" was conducted. #8835 pulled "93 loaded freight cars
on level track" for 36 minutes. 1,
2Note: The Ingersoll-Rand record does not indicate what these loads
consisted of or total tonnage pulled.

Baltimore & Ohio

81

8/25/1924
9/4/1924

A local freight service test was conducted on 8/29 to record performance
data.

Central Railroad of
New Jersey:

35

9/5/1924
9/9/1924

A light yard drilling test was conducted during this period to record
performance data.

Ingersoll-Rand

9/12/1924

Returned to Ingersoll-Rand for a complete inspection.
Measurements were taken of various parts and
compared with the first full inspection record taken on February 12, 1924.
No deficiencies noted,
no parts needed replacing. Wear was so insignificant that it doesn't bear
mentioning.
After the wrist pin, crank pin, and main bearings were set up to standard
clearances
the engine was closed exactly as it was taken apart and returned to
service. 3

New York, New Haven & Hartford

271

9/22/1924
11/4/1924

Yard switching service tests were conducted during this period to record
performance data.

Union Freight

40

11/6/1924
11/8/1924

Tested in the Boston, MA area.

Boston & Maine

132

11/10/1924
11/20/1924

Various testing operations were conducted by this railroad.

Long Island:

362.5

11/28/1924
2/16/1925

Yard switching service tests were conducted 12/7/24 to record performance
data.
Second period of demonstration trials was begun in which it is reported that
an
additional 234 hours of testing was concluded on 2/16/25.

Bethlehem Steel

9

After LIRR - Tested for 9 hours on the Philadelphia, Bethlehem &
New England RR.

passenger service test

11

2/27/1925
2/28/1925

Two passenger coaches were pulled between Jersey
City, NJ and Harrisburg, PA
(approximately 175 miles) in a little over 11 hours to record
performance data.

Reading

207

2/27/1925(?) 3/17/1925

Received at the end of February 1925 and beginning on 3/4 participated
in yard switching
service tests to record performance.

Delaware, Lackawanna & Western

120

3/23/1925
3/28/1925

Yard switching service tests were conducted to record performance.

Hoboken Manufacturers

26

3/31/1925
4/2/1925

Various testing operations were conducted by this railroad.

New Jersey Zinc
(Palmerton, PA)

79

Tested on the Chestnut Ridge Railway.

Alan Wood Iron & Steel
(Conshohocken, PA)

32

7/9/1925
7/11/1925

Steel plant yard service tests were conducted to record performance data
in conjunction
with the Upper Merion & Plymouth RR.

Three
notable accomplishments took place during this trial phase:
.1 On
August 14, 1924; during one of many tests by the New York Central in Manhattan;
#8835 started and pulled a train of 93 cars on level track. This is not a
bad
accomplishment considering you only had 300 horsepower to work
with!

2
It also "partook"
of a tug of war with a Shay type locomotive of New York Central's, in which
it won that battle due to smoother torque of the electric drive and greater
coefficient
of friction (and a little overzealousness on the part of the
Shay's engineer, who got the Shay's wheel's slipping). Needless to say, the
"Central's" men we very impressed.

3 Midpoint
through its so-far successful testing, (in which it operated for seven months
in almost continuous use), the locomotive was returned to Ingersoll-Rand.
The engine was
disassembled for examination and here it was seen that wear
and tear was extremely minimal: .0005 inch on cylinders and .0025 on
main bearings. And this from a relatively
unproven design! The engine was subsequently reassembled without
replacing, repairing or modifying a single component and returned to service.

Without any room
for doubt, it was clear that the prototype design of this locomotive proved
to be durable, efficient, easy to maintain and easy to operate. It was
now that Ingersoll-Rand felt secure that it was time for commercial
production of the design.This resulted in the
production of the American Locomotive / General Electric / Ingersoll-Rand
(a/k/a "AGEIR") 60 ton 300 hp boxcab locomotive, with Ingersoll-Rand
supplying the power plant, General Electric furnishing the electrical components
and American Locomotive supplying the carbodies.

This first production locomotive was purchased
by and delivered to the Central Railroad of New Jersey's Bronx Terminal in
October 1925 and was numbered 1000 by the CRRNJ. This highly successful
Ingersoll-Rand locomotive went on to further demonstrate that diesel-electric
locomotives could in fact provide many of the benefits of an electric locomotive
without the cost of the railroad in having to install overhead trolley wire
/ catenary to power that locomotive, which was a significant expense of
electrification.

So, following the success of the AGEIR
locomotive at Bronx Terminal; several railroads ordered identical models
for use at their offline terminals in the New York area: .

Erie Railroad would purchase two: one for use at their
Harlem Station in the Bronx and one for their West 28th Street Freight Station
in Manhattan;
(to be numbered 20 & 19)

Lehigh Valley would purchase one for use at their West
27th Street Freight Station in Manhattan;
(to be numbered #100)

Baltimore & Ohio would purchase one for use at
their West 26th Street Freight Yard in Manhattan;
(to be numbered 1 and subsequently renumbered 195 and 8000); and

Delaware, Lackawanna and
Western Railroad would also purchase two: one locomotive for their 25th
Street Terminal in Brooklyn (numbered 3001) and one for their Harlem Transfer
facility in the Bronx (ordered as DLW #3002 but delivered Harlem Transfer
#2).
.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch... the
Kaufman Act "battle"
continues...
.

Returning to the Kaufman Act; the Long
Island, New York Central, New York, New Haven & Hartford, Brooklyn Eastern
District Terminal, New York Dock, Degnon Terminal, and Staten Island Rapid
Transit were still maintaining that the law was unjust and were successful
in obtaining temporary injunctions.

The Kaufman Law would eventually be held
as unconstitutional as evidenced by the Brooklyn Daily Eagle September 10,
1926 article seen at far right. The following railroads: Brooklyn Eastern
District Terminal, New York Dock, Degnon Terminal and Staten Island Rapid
Transit, were awarded preliminary injunctions against the State of New York
as stated by the Brooklyn Daily Eagle article.

The Kaufman Act was subsequently amended
in 1926 to extend the deadline five more years, to 1931. This extension was
partially made in consideration of the fact that diesel-electric locomotive
technology (as discussed above) was now past the experimental and prototypical
phase and had entered successful railroad applications.

As diesel-electric
locomotives were deemed to be in compliance with the intent of the legislation,
the Kaufman Act was further amended to include diesel locomotives
as an option to replace steam locomotives.

Brooklyn Daily Eagle
March 27, 1926

Brooklyn Daily Eagle
September 10, 1926

This amendment allowed a second "power"
option for the railroads to use in order to comply with the law, and obviously
of which some railroads took this route.

Others did not: the Baltimore & Ohio
Railroad would electrify their Staten Island Railway, Degnon Terminal
would simply sell out their operation to the Long Island Rail Road in September
1928, with the Long Island Rail Road both electrifying and dieselizing their
routes within Brooklyn and Queens, and Bush Terminal would "dieselize" in
1931 with their purchase of seven H3 high hood models from
Ingersoll-Rand.

Also, if I understand correctly; the Kaufman
Act was further amended to consider those railroads that were too small to
consider electrification, but I cannot locate either a newspaper article
or legal document to reflect this amendment. Apparently some form of
allowances or exemptions were proposed and adopted, asboth the New York Dock Railway and Brooklyn Eastern
District Terminal operated steam locomotives through 1951 and 1963 respectively.

What has not been learned as yet, is under
what specific allowances / exemptions the New York Dock and Brooklyn Eastern
District Terminal operated their steam locomotives. One possible hypothesis
which is unconfirmed at this time; is that about the early to mid 1930's
the Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal converted their locomotives from coal
fired to oil fired, using Bunker-C oil. As evidenced by many of the photographs
of the Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal steam locomotives, they burned
rather "clean" with little evidence of heavy smoke typical of a coal fired
locomotive. I believe this is how the Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal
complied (circumvented?) with the Kaufman Act.

Referencing several photos of New York
Dock steam locomotives show tall enclosed style oil bunkers on the rear of
the locomotives post-1931, while others show short open coal style bunkers,
and even piles of coal and coal bins on the docks (which may have been
for indoor stove use, but cannot be discounted for powering the locomotives
as yet). New York Dock would continue to operate their steam locomotives
as well, but eventually "dieselized" in 1951 with their purchase of five
General Electric 44 ton centercab switchers, leaving only the Brooklyn Eastern
District Terminal to continue to operate steam powered locomotives until
1963; when they too would dieselize with their initial purchase of four
(eventually to add two more, making a total of six) used American Locomotive
Company model S1 switchers.

As a footnote, I have to add that researching
the Kaufman Act was no quick and simple task. When steam locomotives faded
into obscurity and diesel-electric locomotives became the standard throughout
the 1940s and 1950's, details about the Kaufman Act also faded into obscurity.
I still have not been able to locate the original legislation. It also
appears to date at the time of this writing, that no railroad historian
had yet assembled a definitive history of the Kaufman Act (with the exception
of a quick blurb or paragraph), and both the negative and positive repercussions
of the Kaufman Act upon the railroad industry. That is until now.

The various terminals (online & offline)
in the New York Area would become the location for many "firsts" of railroading
that would occur, not to mention "lasts" and "onlys".

The following table is a compilation of
those occurrences or events. Please feel free to submit others or corrections.
Criteria is that the event or occurrence pertain to an offline terminal or
industrial railroad in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Bronx or
Manhattan.

railroad

location

description

date

Central RR of New Jersey

New Jersey
(exact location ?)

First pontoon float bridge in New York Harbor

1866

Palmer's Dock

Brooklyn

First offline terminal and floatbridge operation located in Brooklyn.
First float bridge operation east of Manhattan as well.

1876

Pennsylvania

New Jersey
(Harsimus Cove)

First separate apron transfer bridge.

1888

Harlem Transfer

Bronx

First circular freight house and concentric trackage.

1898

Long Island

Queens
(L.I.C.)

First swiveling head block (Mallery design) transfer bridge.

1904

Bush Terminal

Brooklyn

First offline terminal to combine terminal operations, overseas shipping
and manufacturing facilities on one property.

In all honesty, I never intended to create
pages on the Pier Stations or Inland Freight Stations. My sole page on these
facilities regarded those Pier Stations located in Wallabout Basin in Brooklyn.
However, after expanding my research into the Class 1 offline terminals in
Manhattan, images began to creep into my collection.

Therefore as of April 2009, you will now
find a page on pier station facilities located in Manhattan. After all, it
was only fitting I refer to those pier stations in Manhattan since I squirrelled
away several images of those pier stations that I locating in the various
archives.

It must also be remembered, that almost
any pier could receive freight via carfloat. As such, a great majority of
piers on West side of Manhattan handled freight in some way or another, so
I had to differentiate between the railroad operated piers and those of the
many shipping lines in Manhattan as well.

Also, most of the fruit and produce
wholesalers had one or more piers on the Hudson and / or East Rivers,
therefore station carfloats could be found next to a pier that was not a
railroad operated pier station and have not been included. In any event,
pier stations on the Hudson and East Rivers, were very ubiquitous to say
the least and were not often photographed. Therefore even the small amount
of photos I have acquired, should provide some enjoyment to the interested
reader.

It was then in doing some quick research
on those pier stations (for pier dimensions), that I learned the railroads
had "inland" freight stations as well. These were nothing more than multi-story
warehouses located some blocks from either the pier stations or offline
terminals. Photos of these are what I consider "rarest of the rare". There
were not many of these inland freight stations and both data and images are
scarce, so I have included these as well on the page.

In regards to this topic, one person stands
out above the rest a unique contributor: Mr. Joseph DeMay. Joe is a historian
of piers and wharves in the New York Harbor area and is constantly acquiring
images of those piers and wharves to which some are over 100 years old. Special
thanks goes to Joe for sharing his collection of images of pier stations
with us.

The following link will take you to the
page showcasing the collection of images taken throughout New York Harbor
of Railroad Operated Pier Stations and Inland Freight Stations that were
located in Manhattan:.

The following link pertains to the only
documented railroad operated pier stations in Brooklyn. This was the wallabout
Union Freight / Pier Station in Brooklyn, NY and of which a bit of research
I have compiled a bit of research on:

This page is dedicated to images of Freight
Railroad Operations in the City of New York, that do not specifically apply
to my areas of interest, but are of significant importance to be archived.

While most are images of the New York
Central Railroad street operations in Manhattan prior to the construction
of the "High Line", there are also present day images of the freight operations
at the New York Container Terminal in Port Ivory, Staten Island. This is
significant due to the fact that it incorporates use of a historical railroad
landmark, the Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge.

Also included are a few images of the
current operator of Bush Terminal in Brooklyn and Greenville, NJ; that being
New York New Jersey Rail.

The following is a compilation of firms
listed in the various builders records I have acquired, that were located
in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx, and which are shown to
have received, owned or operated locomotives.

In several circumstances, I have come
across firms shown on property tax maps (Bromley, E. Belcher Hyde) that
show trackage, but I could not find an entry for a locomotive for this firm.
A link to an image of that property map is listed under those entries.

It should be noted, that with the industrial
railroads that I have listed above, they had some significant data or history
records in one form or another that I have been able to compile, and this
information made it feasible to create a separate page on that company. The
owners listed below however, have no such recorded history of operations,
and so until such a history is found, they are relegated to a simple
list.

Frankly, there are dozens if not hundreds
of locomotives listed in the builders records for firms in Brooklyn, Queens
and Staten Island, NY; and I have only located one entry for the Bronx. When
I first started this venture, it was brought to my attention that some of
those locomotives may have indeed operated in Brooklyn and / or Queens, while
others may have simply been registered to an owner or company that was located
in Brooklyn or Queens, but the locomotive may have actually been used at
another location not in the City of New York.

There were also many machinery equipment
suppliers and brokers located in Brooklyn (and Queens, Manhattan, etc), so
some of those locomotives were actually purchased by one of these brokers
and resold, i.e: to a plantation railroad in South America, a quarry railroad
in Manitoba, etc. Those locomotives cleared marked for export or lease in
the builders records have been excluded altogether.

However, one factor to consider in regards
to several contracting and construction firms listed below, these firms are
also found to be named or seen in photographic records of some of the various
New York City subway system construction contracts. Therefore it is a possibility
that the locomotives were used in some capacity or another to excavate new
tunnel construction and / or existing tunnel expansion projects throughout
the early half of the Twentieth Century.

One of the things I took note of when
reviewing the expanded this list below (which now includes the locomotive
models and dates of acquisition), is that the majority of dates of acquisition
are in the 1920's, prior to the Great Depression, with extremely few entries
dated afterwards. Whether there is any real correlation between the fall
off of locomotive purchases and the stock market crash of 1929, remains
unknown.

For now, here is a list of firms that
are listed in the builders records as being in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten
Island and show as to having received locomotives, or in some cases
a property tax (Belcher - Hyde, Bromley), or fire insurance (Sanborn)
map shows trackage for that firm. I have listed the pertinent data for each
locomotive where known.

Please note, this list does not include
the recipients of steam or other locomotives for passenger use.

Sales records show this locomotive being shipped through the Brookyn
Eastern District Terminal, Brooklyn, NY

[b]

Sales records show this locomotive being shipped: Pidgeon St Station,
Brooklyn, N Y(the BEDT Pidgeon Street Station / Terminal was located in Queens,
but the BEDT main offices was Kent Avenue, Brooklyn)equipped with 20" wheels and Westinghouse V53 motor

[c]

Mason - Hanger won the contract to bore and construct the Fulton
Street subway tunnel under the East River for the 14th Street line.
These five 6 Ton ESB locomotives were shipped to the Fulton Terminal (of
the New York Dock Railway), Brooklyn, NY.
Another five identical Whitcomb 6 Ton ESB locomotives were purchased as part
of this contract (for a total of 10 locomotives) and delivered to
Pier 16 & 17, East River, New York, N Y; presumably so that boring could
commence from both sides of the river and meet under the center of the
riverbed.equipped with 20" wheels and Westinghouse V53 motor

It has to be stated for the record, we
cannot take sole credit for this website and contents.

The associated pages within, would not
be possible without the generous assistance and contributions from many avid
railfans of the Offline Terminals, railroad and locomotive historians,
descendants of owners or principals of the industrial railroads, as well
as those representatives at repositories where information and photographs
are stored.

We have listed, in alphabetical order,
those who have given their time and assistance in searching catalogs and
locating and contributing images from their vast files:

For those of you who have not yet realized
it, this website is a labor of our affection for the topics covered within.
The co-authors of this website spend quite a deal of our free time on it;
improving upon it, adding to it and correcting errors as we either found
them or as they were pointed out to us.

Many of you loyal readers and rail-marine
fans have suggested, and rightly so; why not publish this website into a
printed book? More than once the thought has occurred to and quite frankly,
flatters us. While quite honestly we know we are capable of drafting the
manuscript and having it printed; there are a few good reasons we have chosen
not to.

Existing Scope:

This website started out in mid-2004 at
less than 50 kilobytes, with maybe about twenty-five very primitively scanned
and highly compressed images of "steam locomotives only" of the BEDT.
As of May 2007, the website was expanded to include the other Brooklyn
rail-marine terminals: Bush Terminal, Jay Street Connecting and New York
Dock, and broke 300 kilobytes (text only) bytes. This figure does not included
the photo files which were now enlarged, minimally compressed and now included
diesel locomotives, miscellaneous equipment, tugboats, carfloats, and property.
In March of 2008, the main page broke 500 kilobytes (text only) bytes.

Here we are in 2016 and the BEDT main
page alone is just under 1 megabyte. The entire website,
which now covers over 40 locations throughout the five boroughs of New York
City, is 13 megabytes (again, text only). Add to this figure, over one thousand
images and document files; a few of are .pdf files but for the most part
are minimally compressed .jpg files and now beginning to be sized for wide
screen monitors.

In all, text and graphics; this website
is now comprised of in excess of 950 megabytes. That is only 50 megabytes
shy of a gigabyte or 1GB! (And you want us to print this to a book!?!?!)

To even consider printing something of this scope, a multi-volume
set of books would at the very minimum, be necessary. To keep with the detailed
nature of this work, numerous fold-out inserts per volume, at least 2:1 and
in most cases 1:1 would be needed to accommodate the detailed property and
track maps AND keep them legible. Naturally, this set of books would be a
color production on good quality gloss paper, all of which leads to
a hefty production cost. Reflecting on what a printed set of the Encyclopedia
Britannica (on pulp paper and 99% black & white) way back when, no wonder
why it cost so much and it was mass produced!

Let us say we were able to keep the retail
unit cost at around $300 per set (a very conservative figure). We came up
with this amount by comparing the retail cost of several (in print) releases
with an average retail of $60 retail per issue, approximately 150 pages per
issue multiplied by six volumes. All volumes of which to be published and
released simultaneously. Obviously we can't go door to door selling sets
of books of this website, because if we were fortunate enough to sell a
multi-volume set at $300 a set to every rail-marine fan, industrial archeologist,
and local historian who would be willing to spend that amount; we might,
might; be able to sell 250 units.

It simply is not worth the production
cost. It is a limited niche market. Even if we were to limit the coverage
to a one or two volume offering with a few paragraphs on each location,
you lose what this website is all about: a multi-disciplined, comprehensive
and authoritative area of coverage.

Anything less and you get what you have
every few years: a "coffee table" picture book. Anyone can throw a few dozen
photos into a book with a date and maybe a title underneath, put their name
on the cover and sell for $50.
But no one is going to get rich. And it certainly will not be
comprehensive. Nor will it make the New York Times best seller list
or Oprah's book club.

.

Photo Contributions - Not for profit vs.
Commercial:

Another important reason against a printed
book is in regards to the photo contributors. This website is non-profit
and non-commercial. We see no income much less profit from its existence.
Matter of fact, the research that is incurred with a task of this magnitude
sometimes leaves us strapped for funds (we have other hobbies and other
obligations) and quite honestly, the website operates in the negative. In
any event, this not for profit status allows us some latitude in publishing
photographs from established archives and repositories. For individual
images, to now go back and obtain written copyright permission from
each and every contributor now would be time consuming not to mention expensive,
and as some of these contributors may now want some form of monetary compensation
for themselves. We also feel we would also lose some of the "good faith"
photographic contributions made in the spirit of railfanning. ("I'm sending
these to you to use on your website provided you don't sell them. Just
put my name under them").

Essentially, if we published a book, we would be selling
those photos. And it changes the game, so to speak. So it is by far easier
to keep this a friendly contribution non-commercial based website, where
we all share in the glory of the photographs and information, located in
one place and very easy to access.

.

Accuracy & Content - In good
faith:

Considering that in a historical
reference such as this; some dates are estimated, names may not be spelled
correctly or locations misstated, and information from previous sources is
learned to be incorrect. In some instances we unintentionally screw things
up, such as transpose information, data, dates, etc. In short, the electronic
format of this website allows us the immediate opportunity to correct those
mistakes when they are discovered.

We like to think of ourselves as
perfectionists and we have spent many a sleepless night editing to get things
just so, in regard to text, images and illustrations. Sometimes we work on
it for hours only to tear it down and start over, because something just
does not seem or look right or the continuity does not "flow".

In this electronic format, when we receive
a correction, we correct the appropriate error on the webpage,
make a note in the revision list and upload. After a few 90 days it is removed
from the revision list and forgotten about, because the correct version is
on display. That's it, any errors have been fixed with a few keystrokes.

Unfortunately with a printed object, nothing
can be done about an error unless it is decided to print a second volume
or use an online addendum, and then we can only hope that the book purchasers
find and take the time to review.

.

Accuracy & Content - In bad
faith? Not!

Another reason, which we have to say is
quite important to more than one of us (sometimes more so than other reasons),
is the accuracy and veracity of the information contained within this
website.

This day and age of the home office publishing
suite, has simplified the way in which to put together a book or website,
add images, print / publish and offer it for sale. While most works have
been well researched, well authored and presented; inevitably this do-it-yourself
publication trend has seen the proliferation of revisionist historians and
sometimes worse: those authors so obstinate to the point that they will not
accept facts and observations in evidence, and of which that have been
borne out time and time again through genuine research and documentation.
So they print their version. While most of us take it in good stride, it
does remain a thorn.

Unfortunately, the numbers of these
contradictory information authors are increasing, because of the ease in
which they can publish their slant or opinion and of which can be seen or
heard easily in a world wide forum. After all, that is why it is called the
'world wide web'. Inevitably enough people read this bad information and
becomes accepted as a fact. This bad information then circulates and the
new reader (who justifiably accepted that the author did his research and
presents fact and not fiction) comes along and accepts that information as
fact. (I saw it on the internet - it must be true. Abraham Lincoln,
1866).

While this type of bad information is
the exception and not the rule; it is a problem in this field (and I am quite
sure of others). Rail transportation is a popular subject. Rail-marine operations
in New York Harbor? Even more so. Most rail enthusiasts are stubborn to the
point of, "If I didn't see it, it didn't happen".

In short, what you can be assured of,
is that this website in its electronic format, and of which is made up of
several co-authors and extremely knowledgeable contributors in the various
fields covered by in this website including but not limited to railroad,
marine, civil engineering, mechanical design, construction, municipal planning,
history, etc. This "consortium" approach of sorts has the effect of leading
all of the contributors to be open-minded and very careful in our research
and subsequent conclusions, and this group effort so to speak negates any
one of us intentionally publishing erroneous information out of obstinance.

As stated above, once information is published to a printed
and bound book, that's it. It's printed: erroneous conclusions, conjecture,
opinions and all.

.

Image Size:

As stated in the first reason above, one
of the drawbacks to a bound / printed book, is size limitation on graphics,
maps, etc. While a foldout can be pasted into a book, production costs are
very expensive. Some of the track maps used on this website are 3 feet by
5 feet!

With this website however, we can scan oversize images and put
a link to it, where you as the reader can reference that oversize image.
Then you can enlarge, reduce, zoom, etc. using computer functions (control
+ / control -) on the portion of the graphic you desire.

The same applies to standard images of equipment. A large image
scan reveals details not normally seen in a reduced image size on a printed
page. But there is a downside to good quality images: image use without due
credit. But again, this is the exception, not the rule. And as most of us
rail enthusiasts pretty much travel in the same circles, so you can't get
away with "hijacking" an image for too long.

.

Additions and expansion:

As this page increases in publicity, more
and more data arrives from several different sources for us to add. In a
printed format and once published, we cannot add a new chapter, location
or anything else we deem important, i.e.: a previously undiscovered
connection or an influential event, or perhaps that yet undiscovered photo
of a previously unmown piece of equipment. Any of these would warrant an
immediate update to this website and we would not have that luxury with a
printed and bound publication.

With this electronic format, as mentioned
with corrections, we are free to expand without the need of returning to
a printer and publishing a new edition.

Exposure - More than just
railfans:

As rail transportation enthusiasts ourselves,
we all are aware that a publication on the subject can usually be found at
a railroadiana show. Maybe, if the book is really good; you may see it on
a shelf in a chain book store if they have a local history section. An older
book may be out of print and obtainable only in a used book store. But what
these locations do not offer is the availability to the general public, such
as the descendant of a railroad employee or even a retired railroad employee
who is not seeking the book but some obscure bit of information.

What I am trying to say is that with a
printed book, you will only encounter it in a select venue. This website
in contrast, which is published electronically and searchable by any of the
text within the website on the internet, leads to many more opportunities
to have these works "found" ,read and commented on such. As former employees
who have no such interest in railroads or navigation, the neighborhood they
once worked in may very find this website simply by searching the internet
for a general term such as the company they were employed by or by something
so specific as an address.

We can state for the record that we know this to be true, because
to date dozens of employees and in cases, the descendants of employees; have
contacted us via this website, whether to share personal reflections, images
and history on their tenure with a particular company or to seek information
on what their anscestor did for the company. From the obscure Phelps-Dodge
employee to emails from descendants of the prinicpals of the those companies
such as American Dock, Pouch Terminal and Bush Terminal.

Former rail industry employees like our
very own co-author Joseph Roborecky give us insight to how the job was done.
Emails from great-great grandchildren looking for information on an ancestor
that worked for a railroad; or further information on an ancestor who
unfortunately died on the job due to an accident. Emails from attornies
researching or representing an injury case and need to know the technicalities
of break bulk cargo. Emails from parks planning in checking the historical
accuracy of their displays. Emails from a New York Times reporter on the
dates of operation or other incongruous details for an column they are writing.

Why, we have learned that even that general
management of an active railroad used information from this website in their
daily operations for new hires.While we use
to publish the letters as we received them on the bottom of the website when
it was first started, we ceased for space reasons and the inclusion of a
guestbook. Now we regret that. But you can go through the guestbook yourself
and see who has added their name to the readers of this website.

It is very rewarding to hear from these
people from all walks of life, young and old, even when their letter is nothing
more than "I used to work for _____ back in _____. Your website brought back
a lot of memories. Thanks for the effort!"

It is even more rewarding when we follow
up with them, and through the course of conversation get more information
from them about an operation, then are able to publish it here almost instantly
and share it with you all. We find it difficult to say we would have obtained
these connections and this information with a limited circulation specialty
subject book.

.

In conclusion:

So, all things considered: to all of you
who find this website; no matter what field your preferred field of interest
is, whether it be railroad, marine, rail-marine, civil planning, the evolution
of the City of New York City, or more specifically your old or new neighborhood
or even if you were bored, found this website by chance and need to tune
out the rest of the world; you will have to accept this electronic website
/ eBook format.

We can only hope and ask for your
understanding in our decision and support it...

This website is fondly dedicated to the memory of my
father Stan.
Quite simply, he is solely responsible for my interest in railroading, and
for that I shall forever be indebted.

See you at the next stop dad.

~
STANLEY GOLDSTEIN ~

December Twenty-fifth
Nineteen Hundred and Forty-two

October Fifth Two Thousand
and Nine

In the cab of BEDT #16 while stored on 7A9 track (next to the airshaft) -
1981

It is with great honor that I also
dedicate portions of this website to the memory of Francis "Frank"
George Zahn. I never had the pleasure of actually meeting Frank, but
I knew of him and his extensive railroad archives. The railfan community
suffered a significant loss with his passing.

His wife Lillian was gracious enough to
allow me access to Frank's archives and to procure his vast collection of
New York Industrial & Terminal Railroad photos (Brooklyn Eastern District
Terminal, New York Dock, Bush Terminal, American Dock and Atlas Terminal),
so that he and his photographs may be remembered and kept in the public eye.
This was my first collection purchase and I am proud that it was formerly
Frank's.

So in recognition for her graciousness,
I found it necessary to see to it that we all remember Frank for his selfless
contributions to the railfan community. Henceforth, those pages of
which his images are on (Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal, Bush Terminal,
New York Dock and Atlas Terminal) are now dedicated in his memory...

Francis "Frank" George
Zahn

February Twenty-Third, Nineteen Hundred Twenty
Five
June Eighth, Two Thousand Eight